North Korea announces new rocket launch

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A North Korean soldier salutes the Unha-3 rocket which was launched in AprilAP

Sadie Gray

Last updated at 9:08PM, December 1 2012

North Korea announced today that it will attempt a long-range missile launch
later this month in a move which immediately drew international
condemnation.

In a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, the Korean Committee
for Space Technology said that the new firing would be carried out between
December 10 and 22.

The announcement ended weeks of speculation, based on satellite image
analysis, that the North was preparing a fresh launch from its Sohae
satellite launch station. It was intended, said one foreign analyst, as a
“celebratory firework” as Kim Jong Un marked the first anniversary of
succeeding his